Stone Crab License in Florida: Endorsements, Traps, and Penalties

To harvest stone crabs in Florida you need a stone crab license appropriate to what you plan to do with the claws. For personal use, a recreational saltwater fishing license does the job, and it costs $17 for residents or $47 for non-residents annually.¹ If you plan to sell any claws to a licensed Florida wholesale dealer, you need a stacked commercial package: a Saltwater Products License, a Restricted Species Endorsement, and a Stone Crab Endorsement, which together run several hundred dollars a year before trap costs. The season runs October 15 through May 1.²

Which License You Need: Recreational or Commercial

The line between the two categories is behavior, not volume. Recreational harvesting is for personal use only: you cannot sell, trade, or barter any part of your catch. Selling claws to a licensed wholesale dealer makes you a commercial harvester no matter how few crabs you take.³

Two other actions push you into the commercial category automatically. Exceeding the recreational bag limit is treated as commercial activity and requires the full commercial license package.³ So does using a mechanical trap puller, even if you intended to keep the claws for yourself.²

The Recreational License

Every recreational stone crab harvester needs a valid Florida recreational saltwater fishing license. The resident annual fee is $17; non-residents pay $47.¹ The daily bag limit is one gallon of claws per person or two gallons per vessel, whichever is less.²

Several groups do not need the fishing license at all:

Children under 16.
Florida residents 65 or older with proof of age and residency.
Florida residents with a permanent disability, who can obtain a no-cost disabled person’s hunting and fishing license.
Anyone fishing from a for-hire vessel with a valid charter license, or from a pier with a valid pier license.⁴

Free Trap Registration if You Use Traps

Anyone 16 or older who plans to fish stone crab traps must complete a free Recreational Stone Crab Trap Registration before dropping any gear, even if they are exempt from the fishing license itself. Registration is done online through GoOutdoorsFlorida.com and must be renewed annually. The registration number stays the same year to year.² Harvesting by hand or with a dip net requires only the fishing license and no trap registration.⁵

Recreational harvesters are capped at five traps per person, must pull them by hand, and must mark each trap with the harvester’s name, address, and registration number. Each buoy must be at least six inches in size and carry a legible “R” at least two inches tall. Traps fished directly from a dock do not need a buoy.²

The Commercial License Package

Commercial harvesting requires multiple licenses layered on top of each other. Missing any one piece makes the operation illegal.

Saltwater Products License (SPL)

The Saltwater Products License is the base credential. It authorizes commercial harvest and sale of saltwater products to a licensed Florida wholesale dealer. Fees are:

Resident individual: $50
Resident vessel (covers everyone aboard): $100
Non-resident individual: $200
Non-resident vessel: $400⁶

Companies applying for an SPL must first be registered with the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.⁷

Restricted Species Endorsement

Stone crabs are a restricted species, so the SPL needs a Restricted Species Endorsement added to it. Qualifying requires proving one of two income thresholds: at least $5,000 in saltwater product sales to a licensed Florida wholesale dealer during any 12 consecutive months in the past 36, or at least 25% of your total income for a tax year coming from those sales.⁸ This is the toughest hurdle for a new entrant, since it effectively requires a prior commercial-fishing track record.

Stone Crab Endorsement

The Stone Crab Endorsement, called an “X-number” in the industry, is the piece that specifically authorizes commercial stone crab harvest. It costs $125 annually, of which $25 goes to the state’s trap retrieval program.⁹ Your endorsement number is stamped on the SPL and must appear on every commercial trap buoy.³

An incidental take endorsement is available for $25 and allows limited commercial stone crab harvest under separate rules for people whose main target is another species.¹⁰

Trap Certificates: Why New Commercial Harvesters Have to Buy In

Every commercial stone crab trap in the water needs a valid trap certificate on file with FWC plus an annual tag physically attached to it. Certificates cost $0.50 each per year, and replacement tags are $0.50 plus shipping.¹¹ FWC will not issue tags until every outstanding license fee, certificate fee, and surcharge is paid in full.¹²

The fishery operates under a trap limitation program, which means new harvesters generally cannot buy fresh certificates from the state. Instead, you purchase them from an existing certificate holder. The transfer window runs May 1 through the end of February. Both buyer and seller must hold a current SPL, Restricted Species Endorsement, and Stone Crab Endorsement with all fees paid. On a standard transfer, 15% of the tags being purchased are surrendered to FWC to gradually shrink the total number of traps in the fishery. That surrender is waived when certificates pass between immediate family members. The Stone Crab Endorsement itself is not transferable unless the holder dies or becomes disabled, and even then only to an immediate family member.¹³

Where to Apply

Recreational licenses and the free trap registration are available through GoOutdoorsFlorida.com, county tax collector offices, authorized license agents, by phone, or through the Fish|Hunt FL mobile app. Online and phone purchases add a small handling fee.¹⁴

Commercial applications work differently. As of November 2025, all commercial license and endorsement applications and payments must go through FWC’s Commercial Licensing System (CLSOnline). Paper applications mailed in or delivered in person are no longer accepted and will be returned.¹⁵

Rules Every License Holder Has to Follow

The season opens October 15 and closes May 1 every year, and the same dates apply to recreational and commercial harvesters in state waters. All traps must be out of the water within five days after the season closes.²

Only claws may be kept, and each claw must measure at least 2⅞ inches along the propodus, the larger immovable part of the claw. You measure in a straight line from the elbow joint to the tip of the lower immovable finger.¹⁶ Egg-bearing females are off limits: if you see an orange or brown sponge under the crab, the whole crab goes back in the water unharmed. Legal claws should be broken cleanly at the joint connecting the claw to the body, which gives the crab the best chance of regrowing it.¹⁷

Penalties for Harvesting Without the Right License

A first offense for violating any marine resource regulation carries up to 60 days in jail and a fine between $100 and $500. A second conviction within 12 months raises the ceiling to six months in jail and fines between $250 and $1,000.¹⁸

Commercial harvesters face steeper consequences. Possessing more than 100 illegal stone crabs adds a surcharge of $10 per illegal crab on top of the base penalty. A first major violation within a seven-year period brings a $2,500 civil penalty and a 90-day suspension of all SPL privileges. Major violations include possessing more than 25 stone crabs during the closed season, possessing 25 or more whole-bodied or egg-bearing crabs, trap robbing, or pulling traps at night.¹⁸

Trap theft carries the harshest consequence in the fishery. A conviction permanently strips all saltwater fishing privileges, including every license, endorsement, and trap certificate the harvester holds, and those certificates cannot be transferred either before or after the conviction.¹⁰

1
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Recreational Saltwater Licenses and Permits
2
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Stone Crab
3
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 68B-13.0015 – Definitions
4
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Do I Need a License or Permit
5
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 68B-13.009 – Recreational Stone Crab Harvest
6
Florida Senate. Florida Statute 379.361 – Licenses
7
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. New Applicants
8
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Qualifying for Restricted Species Endorsement
9
Florida House of Representatives. Florida Code 379.365 – Stone Crab Regulation
10
Florida Senate. Florida Statute 379.365 – Stone Crab Regulation
11
Florida Senate. Florida Statute 379.365 – Stone Crab Regulation
12
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 68B-13.010 – Stone Crab Trap Limitation Program
13
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Stone Crab Tag and Endorsement Transfers
14
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. How to Order
15
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Commercial Saltwater Licenses
16
Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 68B-13.007 – Restrictions on Size
17
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Stone Crab FAQ
18
Florida Senate. Florida Statute 379.407 – Penalties